Pedalers Power Clean Air Plan

Big Infusion Of U.s. Cash Paves Way For Area Bicycle Paths

New bike racks will sprout this summer in parks from Chicago to Schaumburg and at Wilmette's CTA station. A snippet of sidewalk will be placed along Flossmoor Road in the south suburbs. In Geneva, crews will carve out a bike path for sixth-tenths of a mile along South Street.

As the area marks Bike To Work Week 1994, it is setting the stage for what may be the most auspicious four years ever for bicycles in the Chicago area.

A total of $44.8 million in federal and local funds have been budgeted for the construction of bike and pedestrian paths in the area through 1997, more than in any other year and maybe all years put together.

The new dollars, 80 percent of which are to come from a federal transportation program that emphasizes funding for non-road construction, will pay for the construction of more than 186 miles of paths in addition to the existing 350 miles in the region.

The effort has placed the Chicago area among the leaders in bike transportation funding and attracted the envy of cycling activists everywhere.

But most workplaces still lack showers, lockers and safe places to store bikes. And without them, experts question whether the multimillion dollar expenditures and the effort involved will meet the program's critical goal of getting commuters out of their cars and onto bikes.

Still, it's welcomed by Dr. Fred Goldenson, 52, a Naperville veterinarian, and his wife, Sandy. They were among those who participated in the Chicago area's third Bike To Work Week, continuing through Friday.

"I try and commute by bike when I can," said Goldenson, who owns DuPage River Animal Hospital and runs the business with his wife. He said he rides about 1,000 miles a year but hesitates to take the four-mile commute to work because the ride is dangerous.

"I can take a direct route and get killed or take an indirect route and get there later," he said.

Goldenson reflects the sentiments of many would-be bicycling commuters. The largest proportion of respondents in a recent Colorado survey, 30 percent, said better bike routes were the most important factor that would lead them to bike more often.

The federal dollars will help solve that concern, said Randy Neufeld, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

"The Chicago area definitely is on the cutting edge as far as bicycle development is concerned," Neufeld said.

Improving conditions for bicyclists in the Chicago area and in many other cities stem from the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, the federal government's updated transportation law authorized in December 1991.

The ISTEA law, heavily influenced by the Clean Air Act of 1990, emphasizes air quality in transportation planning. As part of that emphasis, more funding is available for bicycling and walking projects.

From 1992 through 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation is doling out $155 billion through ISTEA.

Before 1993, the year federal dollars were first authorized for the Chicago area, the region spent an average of about $100,000 a year on bicycle route projects, Neufeld said.

"It's going to have a minimal effect," he said. "The market penetration is going to be too low."

"I think you have to be realistic about this," Schofer added. "First of all, you have a little bit of a climate problem here. There are only nine months a year when people can bike."

Also, Schofer said, many of the planned routes will mostly serve recreational riders, which does not ease the plight of cycling commuters.

"I desperately want to see it work," Schofer said, "but I think it's going to take a long time and it's going to take a lot of money."

If Chicago area transportation planners are serious about encouraging commuters to hop on their two-wheelers and pedal to the office, Schofer said parking along some streets should be stripped away and the space used for bike paths; safe routes should be carved along main commuting roads; cycling protections at intersections sould be implemented; rules of the road for riders and motorists should be clearly stated and strictly enforced.

And there is more. Safe, secure-even indoor-storage for bicycles remains a critical need, Schofer said. Showers and lockers for employees also would help dramatically, he added.

"There are a lot more pieces that need to come together," Schofer said.

Others have fewer misgivings.

"For us, right now, the Chicago area is a leading light," said Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the Bicycle Federation of America, in Washington, D.C. "What it represents is a metropolitan area that is demonstrating it is ready to make a major commitment, and that is going to bring other cities along on this."